In time-division multiple access (TDMA) packet-switched communication systems, data from many different subscriber units is divided into units called packets and transmitted over a common channel. Each packet may be divided to form segments. Each segment occupies a discrete time slot of T seconds within a frame. A frame is made up of n of these time slots. Thus, subscriber units can communicate with each other on a basis of non-overlapping transmission bursts. Since there is no overlap, a same carrier frequency may be assigned to all subscriber units using a same base site.
The TDMA technique is characterized by duration of the time frame and the time slot within the frame. Each time slot typically consists of a guard time, a preamble, and the information to be transmitted. Typically, the preamble contains system information such as synchronization, control and routing information. The guard time and the preamble generally depend on the organization of the system. The information to be transmitted occupies a predetermined number of bits. Generally, some packets may be lost or garbled during transmission. When error detection followed by retransmission of select packets is used to correct errors, there is time delay in addition to total packet delay
Thus, there is a need for an efficient method of error detection/error correction in a packet-switched data communication network.